Rating: 
Summary: More Good Than Bad
Review: I bought Crimson Skies on a Friday and I played it continuously until I was forced to go back to work on Monday. I would highly recommend this game to anyone. What is so great about it?The game's storyline, centered around a group of "Air Pirates" in an alternate 1930's era Earth was very engrossing. The whole idea of flying armed prop planes and having a zeppelin as a base was great. The concept of moving the plot along via a series of black and white newsreel-type cut scenes was a brilliant idea and works very well. The voice acting was great; they were deliberately "hamming it up" and this added to the fun. The game environments were very well designed and allowed for a great amount of free movement. The mission where you attack a pirate base on top of a mountain was particularly eye-catching. The game's interface works well. I never read the manual and I was able to figure out how to customize my plane and it's weapons after playing the game for ten minutes. And the planes and their weapons (different caliber guns, types of bullets, missiles and zeppelin busting "air torpedoes") are wonderful. There is also a "custom battle" option that let's you create then play a combat option that let's you create a combat scenario. Speaking of flying in the game, realize that this is not a true flight sim; it's an adventure game. The flight dynamics are not 100% realistic, but the game won't let you get away with anything. I crashed my plane a bunch of times trying to pull off tricky stunts; that only added to the thrills. Also, the game lets you skip missions that you flunked four consecutive times. I played the game on the "medium" setting and I used this option about 3 times. I do not think that there is a limit (which is good in my opinion). The missions range in difficulty and most have multiple objectives that vary in difficulty as well. What is not so great about Crimson Skies? Microsoft is consistent with their game stopping bugs. After playing this game for about four hours straight, it locked up and I had to "alt-tab" out of the game and reboot my PC. This is the same thing that happens when I play "Starlancer", another Microsoft game. This probable "memory leak" bug would be worse for anyone playing this game on a "low end" PC; that is, one that only meets the "required" game specs. 3LT: Long Level Load Times. Although it was worth the wait, it took some considerable amount of time for most of the game levels to load. This is annoying. Buy this game, its one of the best available.
Rating:
Summary: A blaze of glory!
Review: This is a really cool game, but don't be decieved into thinking it's the latest in Microsoft's revered Flight Simulator line. This is arcade action, with minimal stalls and no blackouts to speak of. But does that mean we can't have fun? Of course not! Reminiscient of "sims" like the older game Top Gun: Fire at Will, Crimson Skies places a heavy emphasis on fast action, amazing graphical splendor, big explosions, and varied missions. Did I mention the graphics? No matter how low I swooped to the ground, it never descended into a muddle of blocky pixels. And the trees....I've played a lot of flight sims, and this is the FIRST game to get it RIGHT. The scenarios are varied and entertaining, and you won't find yourself saying "not ANOTHER fighter sweep!" The maps are equally excellent, ranging from NYC to Hollywood to those tree-filled Rocky Mountains. Trees, and lots of 'em! I don't know why everyone is complaining about the system requirements. I'm running this game on a PIII 500 MHZ Dell Optiplex with 128 MB of RAM and only a Voodoo III 3000 PCI, and at 800X600, I've got the graphics options pretty much maxed out. Load times for missions are 30 seconds tops, and the only real stutter is in the menus. Sometimes the software will hiccup when you click on a drop-down menu or button, but this is trivial once you get into the action. I haven't played multiplayer yet, so I haven't hit any bugs. I do not doubt for a minute that they exist, though. The engine needs a little smoothing out. Play it!
Rating:
Summary: SHORT AND SWEET!
Review: This game is for anyone who enjoys flight sims, action games doing mission for money and engrossing story lines. The graphics in this game are some of the best I've seen. Don't let the title or box art fool you, this is an action, flight sim game. You play as an air pirate in an alternate reality North America in the year 1937. The skies are the roads of the world filled with cargo zeppelins, militia fighters and of course pirates. You follow the storyline missions and sometimes are reward with money to buy new planes. I have only three complaints about this game. Once you gain a new aircraft or buy a new aircraft, the only thing you change on it is the armaments. The damage done to zeppelins is unrealistic. The only way you can destroy one is to fire rockets into three cannon hatches. In real life they would simply ignite in a balll of flame once hit with a few machine-gun rounds. Finally the game is too short. I beat it in a day. The storyline could have been longer. I think the developers spent more detail on graphics than the mission themselves. Anyway this is a very good game. The second should be better and hopefully longer. Worth the low price!
Rating:
Summary: I so wanted to give this 5 stars...
Review: and 4.5 isn't an option. I'll get to that in a bit, but about the good. Atmosphere: Amazing. While playing, you will become immersed in the world created here. The voice acting is terrific, the in flight chatter is informative (though can be repetetive at times). It's downright fun. Gameplay: Excellent. If you're looking for something to challenge you to the point where you'll tear your hair out, look somewhere else. But if you want a mildly challenging, but winnable flight/action game, give it a try. The planes handle very well with a gamepad or a joystick. I don't know about keyboard, but who would do that anyway? ;-) Graphics: Beautiful. Planes look great, terrain, sky, everything. The cut scenes are nice as well. Just check any screen shot. Now, the downside. Do not pay attention to the minimum requirements. They are way too low. I'm running an Athlon 900, 128 MB of RAM, and a GeForce 2 w/ 64 MB of DDR, and the menus are slow and the game play stauls at times, almost exclusively at the very beginning of each mission. If you have a slower system, you will have to turn all the graphics setting to low in order to play and drop the resolution to the lowest level. I'd suggest getting the demo first. Couple other points, don't do a full install, it will run even slower. Also, before you even play it, go to www.microsoft.com/games/crimsonskies/ to get the update. It will solve a critical bug that's mentioned in previous review(s). A great game with an unfortunate problem that will keep the masses from enjoying it.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Game Since TIE Fighter
Review: Crimson Skies is an incredibly fun game. The missions are varied and often quite challenging. I'm a pretty good dogfighter (note: no dogs are actually fought in playing this game), but the stunt and zeppelin missions sometimes took a frustratingly number of tries to get through. Still, I eventually acquired the necessary skills (and realized that some aircraft are better suited to some levels than others) and made it through all the missions. Crimson Skies is more of an arcade game (flight stick and throttle are all you need to manage) than an actual flight sim (with flaps, ailerons, landing gear, etc.). This is fine with me, but some may prefer a more technically involved program. In addition to a pretty wide variety of aircraft, there is also a wide range of ammunition (which, like matching the plane to the task, also needs to be managed). Once you get into it, Crimson Skies is nothing but fun. Like TIE Fighter, my favorite arcade-style flyer, Crimson Skies features a strong story line linking one mission to the next. The game features a cast of recurring characters - this adds to the fun of moving from one mission to the next. Do I get to push Ace Dixon around again? Yes. Excellent! It also helps explain why you'd do a stunt mission on the Hollywood studio lot you just shot up and from which you've commandeered the Spruce Goose. The instruction manual and pre- and post-mission summaries help build the retro atmosphere with news clippings, photographs and art deco-themed memorabilia. If Amazon were to allow half stars in the ratings, this would come in at 4.5. How could it be even better? Two of the things that made TIE Fighter so much fun were its flight recorder and side missions. The recorder let you go back and view your mission from any desired angle. It would make Crimson Skies even more enjoyable if you could go back and see things you've shot down crash and burn instead of having to immediately switch to your next target. The side missions in TIE Fighter amounted to going further and further over to the Dark Side. In the first few missions of Crimson Skies it looked like there'd be added "targets of opportunity" (shooting the munitions truck on the suspension bridge, destroying the work camp, etc.), but they soon dried up to be replaced primarily with stunt flying. An offhand comment about Germans early on has a payoff at the end of the game, but it would have been nice to feel the big ending building up more over time. It's not entirely fair to evaluate a game for what it isn't, so please don't let my comment above dissuade you from buying this game. Crimson Skies is simply the most fun I've had in a long time, and while it's possible that it could be improved, it's pretty close to perfect as it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice
Review: i like this game...i haven't played multi but 1 player i fun...exept this game is short like only 24 missions...otherwise its great
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!!!
Review: My wife bought this one for me for Xmas and now, with the new Xbox version on the way, I reloaded this game on my PC to reorient myself in anticipation. It's still the only non-space flying game that I have ever really liked. I agree there are some issues with loading time, but it is SO worth it. The only problem was that, as usual, MS declined to release an SDK (software development kit) so that we could add on to the game. That would have made it absolutely flawless.
Rating:
Summary: A cool game
Review: This game is pretty fun but it would be better if you could take off from the ground. I have had this game for a year and I also wish that it had cooler planes.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This is a quickie review, since I have a hard time writting the whole thing in paragraphs. The good:
Outstanding graphics, everything is detailed very well
Great premise
Outstanding atmosphere, complete with great music
Outstanding voice acting, some of the best I've ever heard. All of your npc companions come to life through the voice acting (You actually come to care for them, a rarity in games)
Intense dogfights, its not umcommon for fights to involve upwards of 10-15 planes
Really easy controls, its incredibly easy, even with the keyboard
Nice flying phisycs, finially, no more of those stupid uber-realistic microsoft simulators. There are some physics, but they are not overpowering.
The mid air zepplin battles. Its really fun to fly between 2 to 3 zepplins doing battles in mid air, and shooting the bad ones down.
The Manhattan levels. They dont look like that misleading picture on the back of the box (Its really a hollywood set), but that dosent stop them from being incredibly big and fun to fly around.
The final level. Awsome
The bad:
Loading times can be a bit long
Some really frustrating levels
Bad system of dying in a level. If you get shot down or killed, you have to start the level over. This is really frustraing on Manhattan, where if you want to complete the stunts, you have to play for a LONG time to get to them all, and its maddining to get shot down. Why not a system where you get a few lives per level, aka Star Wars Rouge Squadron
No bots in multiplayer battles
And the ugly:
Some really hard stunts
No indicators on how to find the stunts, so you have to hunt them down. (Good luck in Manhattan)
No level creator! (I'm talking about a full fledged campaign maker, like on Janes WW2 fighters)
Instant action has some flaws, only a few scenarios to fly, (Stunt flight, shoot down planes, take on a ace (Who you cant customize, so you cant take on the Black cat in Manhattan), and disable the zepplin)
Who came up with the brilliant idea of the concept that you can only disable a zepplin instead of destroying it?
The Zepplin in instant action. How come it can turn on a dime, has plane seeking missiles, and can go up at a 45* angle? Summary: It has some big flaws, but this game is an absolote must buy, even if you arnt a flight fan
Rating:
Summary: The Best Arcade Flying Game Ever!
Review: I enjoy flying this game to the max. The joystick control is right on the money, and the force feedback is wonderful. Every 70 caliber bullet fired from your plane recoils the control. High speed flying vibrates like the plane is barely holding together. Flying the campaign is a blast, working your way with each victory from Hawaii, to the great Northwest, on to Hollywood, all the way to Manhattan. Fire your rockets when you have a dead on view of the enemy and watch them burn. Graphics are superb, commentary is fun. You'll be hooked. Even the most novice of players can fly these birds, just pick the type of plane you want. If you like flying arcade game, this is the tops.
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